Front-end Analysis: Blueprint for Success (Part 2)

“It is important not to rule out any of the alternative solutions (not only instruction, but also
performance support, improved references, changes to practice or process, better selection of
persons to assign to critical tasks, and changes to supervisory or managerial practices) before
completing the investigation and analysis.”

In
Part 1, published last week, I outlined the Front-end Analysis (FEA)
process and its many elements, with attention to the information that
you will need to collect. This week I describe how to conduct an FEA
and how to report the results.

In
order to produce a Front-end Analysis (FEA), use any or all of these four methods to gather information: self-completed
questionnaires, direct interviews, focus groups, and direct
observation. Other techniques are available.

Self-completed (survey) questionnaires

Self-completed
questionnaires gather information from a large population sample.
Construct each question to require specific information, because specific
questions leave less to the respondent’s ability to add
subjective interpretation. Design each question with the help of a
Subject Matter Expert (SME), because an SME's participation should ensure that
the questions are focused and accurate. Test the questionnaire with
a sample group of employees or trainees.

Do
you want anonymous questionnaires? If so, ensure that responses will
remain anonymous. Of course, anonymous responses means there is
no way to contact respondents for follow-up questions or to clarify
answers. One way to solve this problem is to code the questionnaires
so that only designated data personnel can match code numbers to
names. Additional surveys, in combination
with observation and other techniques, may help the task analyst
confirm what was learned.

Direct interviews

Direct
interviews are often used to gather information for specific
job-related needs. Additionally, direct interviews may provide
consensus data about how employees perform a task. Group interviews
provide direct questioning of several people at the same time. You
may also elect to interview individuals one at a time (see individual interview notes below).

Direct
interviews:

Provide a direct line to the appropriate people who have the specific
information about the problem that you are trying to solve

Provide a structure
to the necessary planning and scheduling elements such as having
specific rules with a guided focus

Provide the
ability to collect follow-up information

Encourage the participants to analyze and discuss
problematic or important parts of the job or instruction

Determine how collaborative roles
contribute to the job performance or the success of the instruction.

Prepare
thoroughly for the interviews by studying available handbooks, user
guides and other appropriate materials.

Prepare
for the interview. Learn
about the tasks analyzed. Background reading allows you to use
relevant task language. Additionally, it helps you define what you
need from the interviewees.

Schedule
the interview. Contact
the interviewee to schedule the interview. First send a letter
introducing the interviewer and stating the purpose of the interview.
Next, call the interviewee to set up an interview time. Finally,
show up on
time and fully prepared to conduct the interview.

Listen
to the interviewees. Allow
the interviewees to talk. Detailed preparation for this interview
might include follow-up questions, such as, “Why would a person use
process ‘X’?” or “What does term ‘Y’ mean?” Demonstrate
interest in the subject by smiling, nodding, or saying, “Excellent
point.” Only interrupt an interviewee if he or she goes off-topic.

Take
notes. Ask
the interviewees for permission to take notes. If you cannot take
electronic notes, try to copy the interviewees’ responses verbatim.

Individual interviews

While
individual interviews obtain direct, detailed information from the
interviewee, they are expensive in terms of time and money.
Organizing direct interviews will maximize return on investment (ROI)
at a minimum of time and cost. To best utilize time and money:

Use
questions and statements to start the session and keep it moving
effectively

Pace
the interview effectively by using periodic summaries and/or pointing out time restrictions

Focus groups

Focus
groups help develop a job description and a list of prerequisite
skills that accurately reflect the position and the jobholder. The
end results of these focus group meetings are the knowledge, skills,
and attitudes (KSA) of the job holder.

Focus
groups may consist of current jobholders and supervisors. Usually,
seven to ten people is an effective number of participants for a
focus group.

Direct observation

Use
direct observation when none of the other three information-gathering
techniques is available. Select a Subject Matter Expert (SME) or job
expert to observe this job performance. Write down every step
performed by the SME or job expert.

Before
conducting this observation, do the following:

Designate
team members to conduct the observations

Develop
observation checklists

Provide
“train the trainer” (how to conduct the observation) information
to the designated team members who will conduct these observations

Designate
successful job performers for the observations

Request
permission from appropriate authorities to conduct the observations

Provide
dates and times for the observations

Mark
the checklist

Share
observations with the job performer

Gathering
information correctly should give an estimation of the requirements
for successful performance for the given job (process).

Conducting a Front-end Analysis

After
completing the steps in the information gathering process, you are
now ready to conduct an FEA. Job performers, SMEs, ISDs, and other
appropriate personnel may conduct each step of the FEA. While there
are many different types of FEA templates, I recommend a process
that:

Determines the nature of the
opportunity or request

Identifies the types of information (data)
required

Identifies the sources of information for your FEA research

Creates the data collection tools

Identifies your audience(s)

Collects the data

Analyzes the data

Produces a FEA report

Determine the nature of the opportunity
or request

To
document and process initial customer requests, gather introductory
information, such as the name of the client, the name of the
requesting authority, the date of the request or the start date of
the FEA research, and the end date of the FEA,. Use this information
to collect general information from your client. Assign one or more
of your team members and a project
identification code to the project. There are three reasons for
gathering this preliminary information. The first reason is to
determine what type of training or instruction may be needed. (Two
examples of types of instruction are policy training and regulation
training.) The second reason is to determine what system(s) will
need training or instruction. The third reason is to determine the
performance gap (the difference between the current job or
instructional performance and the ideal or acceptable job or
instructional performance.)

Identify the types of information
(data) required

Your
data should provide appropriate resource information for the
following questions:

What
is the “as of now” performance? How do people perform now?

What
is the ideal performance at the end of performance support,
training, or instruction? What end result is desired following
performance improvement or instruction?

What
is the best solution to achieve the desired performance at the end
of training? Do we need “perfect” performance or will a lesser
standard (75%) satisfy the performance or instructional requirements
for this instruction?

Identify your sources of information
for your FEA

Identify
sources of information, the materials needed, and where to find this
information. Your sources of information may include books,
journals, Websites, and job descriptions.

Create the data collection tools

Use
the following methods for gathering material:

Surveys and questionnaires to specifically question task performers,
supervisors and other appropriate personnel. Some question and
answer formats include surveys, checklists and Likert Rating Scales

Focus groups - use specific questions for seven to ten designated people.
You may have one focus group for the FEA data collection or several
focus groups to represent different target audiences

Lessons learned: ask these questions: “What event went wrong?”
“Why did the event go wrong?” and “What is the solution to fix
the event?”

Direct
observation: use direct observations to gather data when formal data
is not available

Use
SMEs to help create your data collection instruments, so that your
survey instruments ask the right questions. Two important questions
to ask when collecting the data are, “How many people are needed to
satisfy your sample size?” and “How many different audiences are
needed to satisfy your sample size?”

Collect the data

In
collecting data, the analyst wants to capture the right types of
information from enough appropriate people. A good
method is as follows:

Randomly
select employees based on the total number of names on the
population list. Divide by twice the number of employees desired for
the sample.

A
solution for a 10% sample of an employee population would be
calculated this way:

5000
employees X .1 = 500 employees

500
X 2 = 1000 employees as a random sample size

Call
or e-mail employees on the list until you have received a commitment
from 500 employees.

Analyze the data

You
are looking for “triggers” that serve as learning or training
requirements. These requirements are potential inputsto the
instructional analysis process. When you determine that there is
such a requirement, these process steps apply:

Identify
criterion for acceptable performance, such as quality, quantity and
speed

Generate
the learning objective statement (the OUTPUT from the task analysis)

Completing an FEA Report

The
purpose of a Front-end Analysis Report (FEAR) is to solidify a plan,
collect and analyze information, and integrate with the design and
development steps of the ADDIE process. Three areas of concern for
the FEAR are to:

Identify
the major needs, concerns or problem(s)

Identify
the relevant existing information and its formats

Determine
the data to collect and sources, methods and potential uses of the data

Use
a formal report format for detailed reports. The length of your
report depends on the audience receiving the report and their needs.
Use slides if the FEAR will present only key points.

A
FEAR may consist of a number of sections. I recommend using the
structure in Sidebar 1 to organize the information.

Sidebar 1 Front-end Analysis Report (FEAR)
Recommended Format

Section

Content

1

Preliminary Information: requestor, requesting authority, date
of request, start and end dates of the analysis, reasons for
conducting the analysis, brief description of the analysis

Summary

A
successful Front-end Analysis ensures a thorough investigation of a
performance or instruction problem and identifies possible
alternative ways to correct it, before the design team begins to
create instructional content. This saves time, money, and resources,
and gives better assurance that the action taken will correct the
problem.

A number of elements that may be part of a Front-end Analysis,
and a systematic procedure such as the one I have outlined in the two
parts of this article is essential in order to cover them all. It is
important not to rule out any of the alternative solutions (not only
instruction, but also performance support, improved references,
changes to practice or process, better selection of persons to assign
to critical tasks, and changes to supervisory or managerial
practices) before completing the investigation and analysis.

1Other than your note at the end not to rule out alternative solutions (performance support, selection, job redesign), I would consider this a training needs assessment and not a front-end analysis. Your emphasis appears to be on identifying the skills/knowledge (training) gaps through the use of the methods mentioned above. Your analysis, too, assumes a training solution. All fine and good, but I usually find the need to explore other "causes" of the performance gap with the SMEs and include those causes and recommended solutions in the report. I usually find training alone will not solve the problem. There usually needs to be management involvement, coaching, incentives, job redesign, etc. coupled with the training to make the change stick.

2I often delve down into the job/task analysis, training outcomes, objectives, conditions AFTER submitting at least a preliminary report to the client showing the causes of the performance gap. Often, I find, the client wants to know the problem first, and details later.

3Lastly, as a lesson learned, I find it important to follow up with at least a few non-respondents to questionnaires or no-shows to focus groups. They often have a reason for not participating that can bear light on the underlying feelings, fears, hopes, or even disengagement of some of the job performers that must also be taken into account when designing the solution set.

Editing your own work or the work of your subject matter experts (SMEs) is an important activity for instructional designers,
but it takes focus to do it well. Here are some tips that will help you become a ruthless editor!

Beliefs about learners can show up in an instructional designer’s work, often unwittingly. Sometimes it’s the beliefs of an
SME
or the client, sometimes it’s the designer’s assumptions. In online content converted from classroom materials, it can be
the
original designer’s unchallenged beliefs. This month, Jane looks at some ways assumptions and beliefs affect design
decisions.

Classroom training just doesn’t seem to get much respect. But it should. It still has an important role to play in the learning
ecosystem, for at least four significant situations, and this month’s column points out just what those are—and what they
aren’t.